Customized OEM wheel swap this past weekend

I had my OEM 21" wheels cleaned up some existing curb rash and decided to get them powdercoated a different color. When we configured the car in 2013, we went with the bright silver instead of the dark gunmetal.

This is how the car looked soon after we got the car on Tesla's original low setting:



This is how the car looks during winter (center caps not on in this pic; but do have carbon fiber-look vinyl wrapped BMW Msport caps):


OEM wheels were refinished in BBS dark-shadow chrome powdercoat which is a two stage finish. This finish is more 'chromy' in person than it shows in pictures. The OEM gunmetal wheels look quite a bit matte in finish next to these (this is on Tesla's re-engineered 'low' setting ):


The wheel refinisher is in North Chicago, IL if anyone is interested getting their wheels redone. The shop's name is "Sergey's House of Wheels" and does a lot of custom wheel rebuilds, colors, etc. They do PVD chrome and PVD black chrome which are amazing powdercoat finishes that look just like chrome plating without the additional weight or the lack of durability of plating. I almost had my wheels done in black chrome and would have if my car was any other color than black.

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Oh and one thing I really hate about Tesla.....what the hell is up with the lug nut they decided to use? Everytime I have swapped wheels and tires on this car, I have had to replace at minimum one lug nut per wheel. The cover on the lug nut destroys so easily.

The lug nut measures out to 21mm, but a 21mm sockets needs to be 'tapped' onto the lugnut. If I try to use a 22mm socket, there's considerable enough play to NOT use an impact gun (destroys the lug nut cover immediately). Using an impact gun with a 21mm socket tapped on results with a lug nut that seizes itself into the socket.

I will soon be replacing the OEM lug nut with an aftermarket black hardened aluminum lug nut set soon. Tesla really screwed the pooch with these lug nuts.

Only color I'd be interested in doing it in would be a deep red....however, I'm trying not to go with the sporty look.

I can't think of another color to do that wouldn't 'overly pop' on the car. I was thinking a deep bronze color, maybe with bronze metal flake or a bright silver like the original finish on the wheels.

If I went bright silver, it'd show the brake dust and would be really hard to clean off.....any other suggestions?

Hey Sam! Glad to see you here! I was planning on some custom wheels for this car, but having a hard time finding a good, lightweight Volk-wish wheel for this car. I'd love to get a nice concave 21" CE28n (or hell, even a 20").

Are you in a Model S yourself?

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Tdriver said:

"Using an impact gun with a 21mm socket tapped on results with a lug nut that seizes itself into the socket."

I use a 21mm impact socket with no issues on an DeWalt portable impact gun.

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I used a 21mm impact socket and each lug nut would get stuck in the socket. Only way to get the lug nut was to either thread it back onto the lug or use a screwdriver to push it out of the socket (which would damage the lug cover). Going to order hardened aluminum lug nuts this week, just to be done with the crappy lug nuts.